This Man Came Up With 101 Uses For His Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress

Kevin Cotter
As Kevin Cotter tells the story, when his wife of 12 years moved out of their Tuscon, Ariz. home in 2009, she left behind just one thing: Her old wedding dress, pristinely preserved in his closet.

"What do you expect me to do with it?" he asked.

"Whatever the $%^@# you want," she replied.

The comment hit a nerve, and a couple of months later Cotter and his family started joking about ways he could repurpose the gown. The frock had cost him nearly a grand anyway and seemed like such a waste just sitting in storage.

"It wasn't until a month later that my brother, Colin, encouraged me to bring it on a fishing trip," he said. "It was on this trip that it came out of its fancy box and we started putting it to work."

He started small, turning it into what must have been the world's most expensive Kleenex ever.

Then he and his brother got creative. It became a floor mat outside his buddy's camper and later, a sleeping bag.

From there, the ideas started to snowball. They started a blog chronicling the project and it wasn't long before he developed a massive following. A book deal soon followed and Cotter celebrated the release of 101 Uses For My Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress in October.

Despite his success, Cotter said the project had nothing to do with revenge or bitterness. It was about creating something light out of a time that could have been quite dark.

Snow camouflage: "We don't get a lot of snow here, but an hour drive away there's a mountain that gets snow every winter. The reaction was pretty good."

Kevin Cotter

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Scarecrow: "We had the dress set up, minus the head ... and when I saw the Darth Vader mask, I knew it was right."

Kevin Cotter

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Sumo Mawashi: "I think the wedding dress made a fine sumo mawashi. Although it was one of the later applications and did leave me a bit itchy."

Kevin Cotter

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Sailboat: "We don't have much water here in Tucson, so we set up the boat sail on a pirate ship at our local miniature golf course."

Kevin Cotter

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Crime-fighting cape: "I went to a superhero-themed workout with some friends as Captain Wedding Dress."

Kevin Cotter

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Contemporary art: "I really like how this turned out. If the dress didn't have more work to do I might have left it on my wall."

Kevin Cotter

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Manly bib: "The funny thing was that (the restaurant) was full of people and not one person said a thing. Not even our waitress."

Kevin Cotter

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Smart car cover: "It can get so hot here that you can barely touch your steering wheel. Covering your car is an advantage."

Kevin Cotter

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Car wash cloth: "It doesn't make a great towel because it doesn't hold water very well. It didn't work well as a mop either."

Kevin Cotter

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Shower curtain: "The trim has holes in it so it just worked really well. I only took one shower with it up there, because it's not waterproof."

Kevin Cotter

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Jump rope: "I am the current wedding dress jump rope world record holder. Guinness told me my accomplishment wasn't worthy of their book of records, but I'm still proud of my 37 consecutive jumps."

Kevin Cotter

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Go-cart parachute: "The dress is heavy, so it was tough to get it blown up and airborne."

Kevin Cotter

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Sun shade: "It took a little while, maybe half an hour to get it strung up. But it was successful."

Kevin Cotter

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Slip 'n slide: "This was suggested multiple times by visitors to my blog. I'm not sure what those people were thinking. Wedding dresses are slippery and I definitely didn't slide on mine. This application hurt."

Kevin Cotter

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Emergency shelter: "It didn't work out too well because I set it up in sand, so the support sticks didn't hold it up so well. But I think in a pinch it would be better than nothing."

Kevin Cotter

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Tow rope: "I thought I was gonna have to stage it but ... we towed an SUV over a mile. I couldn't believe it."

Kevin Cotter

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Baby carrier: "It works well as a baby sling–and a dog sling."

Kevin Cotter

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Yoga mat: "This was my first attempt at yoga and it felt really good with my ex's dress as my mat."

Kevin Cotter

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Zombie gear: "Every year Tucson has a Day of the Dead parade and celebration downtown. I went as a zombie bride the year before last and was a hit with the crowd."

Kevin Cotter

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Hammock: "I was afraid to commit all of my weight to the hammock as my brother was encouraging me to. But the dress supported me with no problem." It also became the inspiration for his book cover.